


Life is What Happens

by helloearthlings



Series: The Plan [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Timestamp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-11-02 13:49:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10945815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helloearthlings/pseuds/helloearthlings
Summary: “You know what I’m thinking about? The plan. How my life would be right now if I never met you, if I’d followed that stupid list for the rest of my life."





	Life is What Happens

**Author's Note:**

> Little timestamp-y sequel to the last work I posted! Literally just pure fluff and nothing else. Hope you enjoy!

Arthur was drifting somewhere in the realm of not quite asleep and not quite awake, aware of the warmth of the bed, his body curled around a pillow, the sound of his husband’s voice in the next room, though he couldn’t make out the words.

He didn’t quite let himself drift off into fully asleep – not yet, not while Merlin wasn’t in bed yet. Once he got off the phone and came to warm up the already-cozy bed with his perpetually warm feet would Arthur let himself fall asleep.

“Hey.”

The bed creaked with Merlin’s weight as he sat on the edge. Arthur’s eyes weren’t open, but he could tell Merlin was sitting, the only part of his body touching Arthur’s was a hand lightly carding Arthur’s hair. Arthur made a slight noise to show his appreciation, then cracked an eye open to see Merlin’s silhouette on the edge of the bed, smiling softly down at him, just on the edge of excitement.

“What is it?” Arthur croaked, voice scratchy with almost-sleep. Merlin bit his lip, his smile threatening to burst over, and it made Arthur open his eyes fully.

“That was the adoption agency,” Merlin started and a spike of adrenaline hit Arthur’s heart and suddenly, he wasn’t ready to sleep anymore.

“What’d they say?” Arthur breathed, all the while thinking _please, please, please._

“On Saturday, we’ll go Newcastle to meet with them, fill out some paperwork – and meet the two siblings they think would fit best with us,” Merlin’s hand was nearly shaking with excitement and Arthur pulled himself upward from the bed to hug husband, laughing with incredulity and shock and complete and utter happiness.

“Their names are Rosie and Parker, a girl and a boy,” Merlin mumbled into Arthur’s shoulder, pressing an excited kiss onto Arthur’s skin. “Rosie’s seven and Parker’s four – they’ve been in the system for the past three years, grew up a little with their mother until she left them – but the agency thinks that we’ll fit best with them. We…we’ll probably want to keep them here in Australia, though, they might be skittish about leaving – I mean, it’d take longer to adopt if we went back to England, but….”

“Are you still on that?” Arthur pulled away from Merlin to grin up at him, his eyes bright with happiness. “I love it here. You know I do. And it doesn’t matter where we raise our kids, whether it’s here or London.”

Arthur thought back to three years ago, when Merlin had gotten the job offer in Sydney and was prepared to turn it down, but Arthur had said _no, no, you’re going to take the job, and I’ll come with you._ And then Arthur gotten the ring box out of his pocket and Merlin had hit him with on the side of the head with a flyswatter before getting a ring box out of _his_ pocket –

Arthur liked thinking about that day.

And now he was going to like thinking about this one, too.

“Are you sure?” Merlin studied his face carefully, as if Arthur was capable of lying to Merlin.

“Idiot,” Arthur said fondly, leaning back in the bed, beckoning Merlin to join him, which he did, a small smile on his face as he pushed himself backwards and Arthur nestled his face into the crook of his neck. “Of course I’m sure. We’re gonna have _kids._ Kids!”

“Well, the paperwork has to go through first,” Merlin kissed Arthur’s head. “But yeah, it looks like we’re gonna have kids.”

They were quiet for a moment, Merlin’s hand running through Arthur’s hair, the energy in the room far too high for past eleven on a Tuesday night.

“You know what I’m thinking about?” Arthur asked into the silence, and Merlin made a noise to show he was listening. “The plan. How my life would be right now if I never met you, if I’d followed that stupid list for the rest of my life. I’m thirty-three, so…I’d be having the daughter about now.”

Merlin had stilled a little bit at the mention of the plan, but let out a snort that dovetailed Arthur’s statement. “At least you wouldn’t have saddled a child with the name _Lionel_ yet.”

“ _Your_ mother named you Merlin,” Arthur pointed out snipingly, but he could tell Merlin wasn’t a huge fan of his conversation topic, so Arthur quickly began to expand on his original point. “I just meant – if I hadn’t met you, I’d be in a miserable, mediocre marriage with some socialite, working for my father and having lunch with him every day, being some horrendous real estate lawyer – but instead, I get to live in Sydney, work in a job that I actually find _meaning_ in that _helps_ people, I’m about to adopt two kids, and I have the most amazing, perfect husband in the world.”

“Flatterer,” Merlin muttered, but Arthur could see Merlin’s cheeks turn pink as Merlin turned to press a kiss against Arthur’s jawline. “I have a pretty perfect husband, too, you know.”

“ _Subjectively_ perfect,” Arthur pointed out. “I’m still a bit of twat, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“Oh, I notice,” Merlin laughed lightly against Arthur’s skin. “But you grow more and more objectively perfect every day. I mean, look at you. You run a nonprofit for needy children, you moved to a new continent to make your husband happy, and now you’re to adopt two kids who really need you. You get better every minute. Perfect.”

“I love you,” Arthur kissed the inside of Merlin’s neck, heart threatening to burst. “I love you so much. And I love my job. And this country. And those kids, even though I haven’t met them yet. The plan doesn’t have _anything_ on this life.”

“So no more plan? None at all? You don’t feel the need to compulsively control the future anymore?” Merlin’s voice was teasing, but Arthur understood the question behind it.

“I still have a Plan,” Arthur admitted, trying not to smile. “You. You’re my Plan. Anything I do, you’re gonna be there with me. And now….now my kids. Assuming the paperwork goes through, of course. Merlin….and Rosie and Parker. That’s my Plan.”

Merlin was quiet for a moment and Arthur worried that he may have said something wrong, but then he realized that Merlin’s cheeks were wet.

“See what I said about perfect?” Merlin mumbled a moment later, curling into Arthur in a bone-crushing hug. Arthur buried his face in Merlin’s neck and smiled.


End file.
